Dates: April 22 – April 26, 2019 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida   Come and join us in Florida for our 2019 Introduction to Cob Workshop! We will be constructing a cob bench and covered sitting area. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. This workshop is a great experience to learn how…

Earliest Bird (register before January 28th): $70 Early Bird (register before March 28th): $85 Regular Fee: $100 In this one-day introduction, we will be mixing and building with cob, as well as discussing straw-based building techniques. Look forward to morning and afternoon hands-on work, with a discussion/presentation after lunch. The day will conclude with a pizza dinner, using our cob oven! We will cover the basics: mixing and applying cob mixing and applying natural clay-based plasters strawbale vs. cob concepts…

Dates: May 6 – May 12, 2019 Location: Athens, Tennessee   Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. This workshop is a…

This year, we’ll be getting walls from rough cob to finished beauty.  We’ll mix and use a “filler” coat of plaster until the wall is the depth and smoothness we want, then we’ll cover that with a natural plaster called “Ditema”: cow manure and clay.  We’ll have a variety of applicators, so you can play with texture and finish.  Once that dries, we’ll mix and tint a hydrated lime paint to finish it all off. We’ll also mix up some…

An Introduction to Ecological Building Techniques Including Rubble Trench and Rock Foundation, Wattle and Daub, Earth Bags, Cob, Natural Plasters, and Rocket Mass Heaters! May 18th — May 25th, 2019 Intro to Ecological Construction For thousands of years, people have been building their homes out of the dirt beneath their feet. Natural and vernacular building techniques have roots in every culture around the world, but share the distinction of using local materials, being energy efficient, and having a low ecological footprint.…

Want to take your natural building curiosity to the next level? If so, join The Year of Mud for our 4 day introductory Natural Building Essentials Workshop. In this course, you’ll get hands-on experience building light clay straw walls, mixing and applying various natural plasters, and stomping and sculpting cob. In addition, we’ll tour several beautiful natural homes in the local community. If you’ve been inspired by natural building and need a jump start, this is the course for you. Here is some…

We will build a cob outdoor kitchen under an existing roof structure. Students will build a stone foundation and cob walls that will support a countertop, cob benches, and construct a cob bread/pizza oven from start to finish. We will spend time learning about and working with earth and lime based plasters and paints also. We will have led discussions/presentations on oven design, foundations and site planning, wood framing, and roofing. What to expect: Our days will be spent engaged…

Dates: June 3 – June 7, 2019 Location: Athens, Tennessee   Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. This workshop is a…

$800 Earliest Bird Rate (register before March 21st, 2019) $875 Early Bird Rate (register before May 9th, 2019) $950 Regular Rate *10% additional discount for family/friends participating together   Join us as we add onto one of our strawbales cottages in the woods! We will be extending the footprint of the building with a strawbale-insulated bedroom, as well as a slip-straw insulated bathroom. Earthen and lime plastering work can be done on both of those wall systems during the week.…

In this course, we’ll work on finishing an existing straw-bale and cob hybrid building. Students will gain a thorough understanding of building with earth in various forms. Including building cob walls, earthen floors, making and applying earth plaster finishes. In addition we will learn about green roofs by installing the drainage and soil layers of our building’s roof. What to expect: Our days will be spent engaged in hands-on building and learning with natural materials. Expect a rich week of…

Ever wonder what it’s like to build a timber frame from the ground up? Join The Year of Mud this June for a 7 day Timber Frame Workshop near Berea, Kentucky. In this totally hands-on introductory workshop, students will use timeless techniques and traditional hand tools to lay out and join a beautiful timber frame pavilion. Learn valuable new carpentry skills in a gorgeous mountain homestead setting, and discover what it takes to build a long-lived timber structure using mortise…

PROJECT This will be the very first workshop hosted on this beautiful new sacred land purchased in January 2019.  The only existing building on the land is a 30m2 agricultural support structure made of clay bricks/blocks.  While the plan is to develop a small Ecovillage community, the first officially habitable building will not be built until November/December as there is a permit process that I am choosing to adhere to.  Thus the first structures we will build in this 4-week…